This is session #4 in the PL Committee CCCs Pathway and is designed to support K-12. The crosscutting concepts provide a consistent language for student communication. When teachers’ assessment prompts are designed with the crosscutting concepts, the focus of student thinking can be directed to different aspects of the phenomenon or, the system being investigated. Patterns may be used as evidence to support explanations or arguments for the causes of a phenomenon. Participants will explore the progression of Crosscutting Concepts throughout a student’s K-12 career. They will consider phenomenon and discuss several appropriate prompts that bring different CCCs to the forefront (patterns, scale, systems). Participants will engage with the process of developing assessment prompts which use the Crosscutting Concepts to initiate student sensemaking responses.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participant will leave with resources that guide their development and use of Crosscutting Concepts to focus student sensemaking on assessments. These can be integrated with assessments prompts which are aligned to Science and Engineering Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: No City, No State), Christopher Soldat (Grant Wood Area Education Agency: Cedar Rapids, IA)

A virtual reality chemistry activity was evaluated as a supplement to laboratory instruction for first-year college chemistry classes. Student self-evaluation of confidence in certain lab activities was surveyed prior to and post VR session.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Virtual reality offers an engaging and kinesthetic way to supplement lab-based instruction; 2. The virtual environment can evaluate student lab performance on a level that can't be duplicated in a laboratory setting; and 3. VR offers an effective source of remediation for students lagging in labo

SPEAKERS:
Donald Carpenetti (Craven Community College: New Bern, NC)

Engage students in a hands-on cellular respiration learning activity using handouts and manipulatives.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Learn the stages of cellular respiration; 2. Discover how to follow glucose through the oxidation steps and track the carbons that are converted to CO2; and 3. Calculate the energy production (ATP) through substrate-level phosphorylation and oxidative phosphorylation.

SPEAKERS:
Deborah Cardenas (Collin College, Wylie Campus: Wylie, TX)

What do science, mathematics, social studies and reading/language arts instruction have in common? See how content methods faculty modeled content integration to provide preservice teachers with the tools to teach an integrated, science-focused investigation during their methods field experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away ideas for collaborating with colleagues to model integration across disciplines, preparing preservice teachers to use integration to ensure time for high-quality science instruction in the K-3 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Kay Kelly (University of Dayton: Dayton, OH)

Students in the first semester of the General Chemistry sequence participated in a peer-teaching exercise and were subsequently evaluated for information retention and test anxiety. Students participating in peer-teaching scored on average 20% higher on a final exam question.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students participating in peer-teaching scored on average 20% higher on a final exam question than those who participated in a non-peer-teaching review. This increased retention was shown to carry over into the subsequent semester in students participating in General Chemistry II.

SPEAKERS:
Donald Carpenetti (Craven Community College: New Bern, NC)

Research shows that writing enhances learning outcomes. In place of long research papers, low stakes writing was incorporated in an online geoscience course. This presentation will demonstrate various strategies to incorporate low stakes writing in an online course to facilitate learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Low stakes writing assignments (worth a small percent of the final grade) are a great way to increase student engagement with the material, apply topics to a student's local area, increase critical thinking and improve scientific writing skills.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Haney (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS)

Starting with a 3D learning target will ensure you build a lesson that includes a strong connection between Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Cross-Cutting Concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will create 3D learning targets and outline lessons that guide students through sense making instruction as they explore scientific content.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Suarez (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX), Courtney Toht (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX)

Creative writing assignments can better reach students with differing learning styles. The incorporation of creative writing exercises into introductory chemistry courses and their effects on student performance will be described.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Creative writing is an effective way to cement understanding of chemistry concepts; 2. Engaging in creative writing leads to better exam performance; and 3. Creative writing exercises increase critical-thinking skills.

SPEAKERS:
Donald Carpenetti (Craven Community College: New Bern, NC)

What does the research say about effective science teaching? Learn how to build a strong pedagogical foundation while integrating science across the curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
An overview of research-based practices in teaching science for the beginner and resources for research-based instructional practices.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Robertson (East Tennessee State University: Johnson City, TN), Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), Dominick Fantacone (SUNY Cortland: Cortland, NY), Kimberly Staples (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS), Lorraine Ramirez Villarin (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA)

Misinformation has reached epidemic proportions. Thankfully, science has found a solution, inoculation theory, which applies the logic of vaccines to misinformation. This presentation focuses on active inoculation, in which students learn the techniques used to mislead by creating misinformation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use active inoculation to protect their students from misinformation, such as designing an advertisement for a health pseudoscience product and creating conspiracy theories. Creating misinformation is a fun and effective way to learn the techniques used to mislead.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Massasoit Community College)

School campuses and gardens provide inspiring opportunities for supporting science learning. Scientific sensemaking in the students' local school environment includes (1) access to explicit and authentic scientific phenomena, (2) meaningful integration of 3D learning (disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts) and the 5E learning cycle, and (3) multimodal classroom discourse focusing on engaging all students. Students revise and refine their scientific understanding over time in outdoor classrooms, while also enhancing reading, writing, and communication skills. Outdoor classrooms are shared spaces where individuals and communities interact and interact. We will share how preservice elementary teachers were trained to create and implement in-person and virtual elementary science lessons and reflect on how these lessons impacted preservice teachers, as well as school teachers, students, and communities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to train preservice teacher candidates to use outdoor learning environments to teach 3D/5E elementary science lessons that integrate standards, as well as in person and virtual learning platforms.

SPEAKERS:
Camryn Lochner (Teacher: No City, No State), Tess Mitchner Asinjo (Principal: Dayton, OH), Hannah Salaiz (Teacher), Michelle Fleming (Wright State University: Dayton, OH)

This presentation explores a general-education science class designed to teach critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. Focusing on science’s process over its findings can empower students to evaluate claims and make wiser decisions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to teach the skills of critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy by providing their students with a structured toolkit to evaluate claims (FLOATER), including pseudoscience in their classroom, and having their students create misinformation.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Massasoit Community College)

This presentation explores how to use the FLOATER toolkit (Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative explanations, Tentative conclusions, Evidence, Replicability) to teach students how to evaluate claims. FLOATER is featured in the Checkology® lesson “Evaluating Science-Based Claims.”

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use the FLOATER toolkit.FLOATER summarizes many of science’s essential characteristics, so it could form a useful foundation for science courses. Using it to evaluate pseudoscience helps students learn the characteristics of good science.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Massasoit Community College)

Join NSTA Professional Learning Facilitators for informal conversations about science teaching and learning. Bring questions and ideas to explore and discuss — no topic is too big or too small! Let’s work together to make science learning engaging, important, and accessible to all students.

TAKEAWAYS:
We’ll draw on the expertise of NSTA professional learning facilitators and educators in the room to answer questions, provide research-based feedback, and share resources to help you continue to shift your practice toward three-dimensional teaching and learning.